The Number Three
by Tanglepelt
Summary: When a young boy is murdered, Vash and the rest of his crime scene investigation team have to untangle a web of violence and deceit in order to find the killer. -Human names used; Human AU- Warning: multiple character deaths
1. Burnt Scones and Bad News

Welcome to 'The Number Three'! This is my first Hetalia fanfic, so hopefully I won't butcher these characters too much.

This is a human AU, so human names will be used. At the beginning of each chapter, I will list the countries focused on and their human names. If a country doesn't have one, (like Iceland, Norway, Hong Kong, etc.), I will make up a name.

This is also a murder mystery, so characters will die. However, each death plays an important part in the plot.

The crime scene investigations will be conducted in 'CSI style'. I know that's not how real investigations work, but I love the show, and it'll be easier (and more dramatic) than using the actual, slow method of investigations.

Sealand's age has been bumped up to fourteen. Switzerland's age has been bumped up to twenty-six. (The investigative team's ages have all been bumped up to make the story more realistic.)

The story takes place in America.

Peter Kirkland: Sealand

Arthur Kirkland: England/Britain

Sey Leblanc: Seychelles

Alfred F. Jones: America

Vash Zwingli: Switzerland

Lili Zwingli: Liechtenstein

Roderich Edelstein: Austria

Ludwig Beilschmidt: Germany

Gilbert Beilschmidt: Prussia

Elizaveta Héderváry: Hungary

Raivis Galante: Latvia

Eduard von Bock: Estonia

Toris Lorinaitis: Lithuania

Berwald Oxenstierna: Sweden

Tino Väinämöinen: Finland

Matthew Williams: Canada

Kiku Honda: Japan

Wang Yao: China

Now that the A/N is finished, enjoy chapter one!

* * *

><p>~The Number Three~<p>

Chapter One: Burnt Scones and Bad News

A young boy ran happily down the street, smiling to himself. He hummed a Lady Gaga song that his brother's friend had let him listen to a few hours before, and he swung the duffle bag he was carrying to the beat.

_I can't wait to show him my uniform! _he thought. His first day of high school was in three days, but he wanted to show off his new uniform to his best friend, whose house he was spending the night at.

He remembered how mad his older brother was when he ran out of the house wearing the uniform. _Stupid jerk thinks I'm going to ruin it! _He laughed when he recalled the look on the man's face when he ran out the door. _He looked like an old man telling kids to get off his lawn! His face was so freakin' funny! _

He almost made it to his best friend's house when he tripped on a crack in the sidewalk.

"Bloody hell!" he cursed, rubbing his now-skinned knees and retrieving his duffle bag. He inspected his uniform, relieved that it was undamaged. _Good thing I wore the shorts instead of the long pants. _

He laughed to himself and began walking again, albeit slower. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab the back of his shirt.

"Hey!" he yelped, startled. When he tried to turn around to see who it was, the hand changed its position, wrapping itself around his neck.

The boy started to panic as he was lifted. Because of the pressure on his neck, it was getting difficult to breathe, and even though he was struggling, he was no match for his attacker.

He could do nothing as he was thrown into a nearby alleyway. Before he could get up, before he could scream to alert someone in the neighborhood, duct tape was slapped over his mouth, silencing his cries.

He closed his eyes, a few tears sliding down his face. _I never got to say goodbye to Arthur; I just ran out the door and called him a jerk._

The boy cried more when he felt the sharp edge of a knife press into the side of his face.

* * *

><p>Twenty-six-year-old Vash Zwingli arrived at the crime scene with his partner Ludwig Beilschmidt. Elizaveta Héderváry, Ludwig's older brother Gilbert, Roderich Edelstein, and Alfred F. Jones—four of his department's crime scene investigators—were already processing the scene when the two got out of the car.<p>

At least, Elizaveta, Roderich, and Gilbert were. Alfred looked shocked, just staring into space.

"Alfred?" asked Vash, approaching the younger man.

"Peter Kirkland," was all he said, blinking as though he was holding back tears.

"What?" asked the blonde. "Is that the victim's name?"

"He's not just a 'victim'!" Alfred spat, glaring at Vash. "He's my best friend's younger brother! I just saw him yesterday."

Vash knew that it was bad news to mix emotions with work in their profession. "Maybe you should go home, Alfred. I'm sure Elizaveta will let you if you explained it to her."

"Whatever." The twenty-three-year-old's normally cheerful expression and loud voice were gone, and he hung his head.

A question suddenly popped into his head. "How old was Peter Kirkland?"

"Fourteen," whispered Alfred. "He was about to start high school." The bespectacled investigator then trudged over to Elizaveta.

_A child, _thought Vash. An image of his younger sister Lili's smiling face flashed through his mind. _She's only a year older than him. _

Pushing the thought out of his head, he composed himself and walked up to Elizaveta, the supervisor of the day shift at the forensics lab, after she and Alfred were done talking.

"Who called it in?" he asked.

"That girl over there." The Hungarian pointed to a crying, dark-skinned teenager with her hair in two pigtails held by two red ribbons. "Her name is Sey Leblanc. She said she was going to the lake for some morning fishing when she saw the body sticking out of the alley."

Vash nodded, and the brunette continued. "The vic's name was Peter Kirkland, age fourteen."

"I know," the Swiss man found himself saying. "Alfred told me."

Elizaveta's eyes narrowed. "I sent him home." Her eyes softened as she continued to speak. "He said the poor child was like a little brother to him."

"May I see the body?"

"Go ahead. Just so you know, Roderich said his T.O.D. was five hours ago."

As soon as the green-eyed woman gave her approval, Vash walked over to where the corpse was sprawled out. He had a strong stomach—you had to when you had this job—but what he saw sickened him.

The boy's face was covered in cuts, and his last expression was one of pure pain and terror. What looked to be tear tracks cut through the blood. His mouth was taped.

_Probably so he couldn't scream._

As he continued to inspect the body, he realized that Peter wasn't wearing a shirt. His chest, torso, and arms were covered in similar gashes to the ones on his face. Thankfully, he was still wearing a pair of dress shorts and shoes. He looked down and saw a duffle bag next to him.

_Elizaveta said his time of death was five hours ago, but he probably wasn't walking around before he died; he was probably going somewhere before sunset. _His eyes snapped open wide. _That means that he was left to die after he was attacked. __Who would do this to a kid? _

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Gilbert tapped his shoulder. "Zwingli," he said, "we need to transport the body now."

The Swiss man nodded and let the German (no, he liked to be called _Prussian_), Roderich, and some people whose names he didn't know gently place Peter's corpse in a body bag.

* * *

><p>While Vash, Roderich, and Elizaveta went back to the lab, Ludwig and Gilbert drove to a man named Arthur Kirkland's house. Arthur was Peter's older brother, and he needed to know what happened.<p>

Gilbert hated this part of his job the most. The looks on people's faces when he told them that a loved one was murdered were horrible. The German—he preferred to be called _Prussian_—knew he wasn't the nicest guy on the planet, but that didn't mean he was unable to feel sadness.

Ludwig rang the doorbell, and the two waited until someone opened the door.

After a few seconds, someone did. An old-fashioned looking man with blonde hair and enormous eyebrows answered the door.

"Hello," he said.

Gilbert noticed he had a British accent. "I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt, and that's Ludwig Beilschmidt." He pointed to his brother. "We're with the crime lab. May we come inside?"  
>"Of course," replied the man.<p>

"Are you Arthur Kirkland?" asked Ludwig.

"That is correct," answered the blonde.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news." Gilbert's stomach twisted as he said the words.

Arthur rolled his green eyes. "What did Peter break this time? I assure you I'll pay for it."

"Mr. Kirkland, Peter isn't in trouble. He's dead." The albino glared at his brother for saying it so business-like.

"What?" The Briton's knees started to shake.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Kirkland," said Gilbert.

"I told him to always look both ways. But he didn't listen to me," murmured the blonde.

The white-haired man was confused, until he realized that Arthur thought his brother had been hit by a car.

"No, Mr. Kirkland," replied Ludwig, gentler this time. "Peter was murdered."

"Oh God." Arthur sank onto the couch, covering his face with his hands.

"May I ask you where he was going?" asked Gilbert. His time of death was five hours ago, but we're sure he was out before that time."

"He was walking over to his friend Raivis Galante's house to spend the night." The Briton's voice seemed detached. "But I don't think Raivis or his brothers called me saying that he didn't arrive? Wait!" the blonde's head snapped up. "I _did _go to the store around nine-thirty last night to get some beer, and I forgot my cell phone. Maybe Raivis called it."

He got up and grabbed a cell phone that was on a coffee table. He turned it on, went to his voicemail, and turned it on speaker so that the officers could listen.

"H-hello, Mr. Kirkland. It's Raivis," said a soft voice with a hint of an accent. "I just wanted to know where P-Peter is. He never made it to my house, and I'm getting w-worried. He doesn't have his phone on, so I can't get a-a hold of him. Eduard says I'm o-over thinking this, but I'm afraid s-something happened to him. I hope he's all right. Y-you too."

The message ended, and Arthur dropped the phone. "How the hell am I going to break this to Berwald and Tino," he whispered.

"Who are Berwald and Tino?" asked Ludwig.

"Berwald Oxenstierna and Tino Väinämöinen are Peter's guardians. He lives with them."

"But you're his brother; why aren't you—or his parents—taking care of him?" asked Gilbert, confused.

"I'm a representative for the U.K.," explained the Brit. "I travel all over the world constantly. I couldn't take Peter with me; he needed to go to school. Moving would be difficult for him; he liked it so much here. Our parents died last year; I couldn't take care of him, but I didn't want to lose him to the foster care system. Tino's a good friend of mine. He and his partner Berwald always wanted a child, so they adopted him." His eyes closed. "They're going to be so devastated. Both of them loved him so much." His voice cracked at the last word.

Gilbert cleared his throat. "May we have Tino's and Berwald's address and phone numbers, as well as Raivis'? Someone from our team will notify them and talk with them about Peter."

"Sure," murmured Arthur, still in a daze. He got a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down what Gilbert wanted. "I also wrote down Alfred F. Jones' address and phone number—he knew Peter too—as well as his brother Matthew Williams'. They'd want to know what happened."

"Alfred already knows," Gilbert blurted out. Ludwig elbowed him.

"That's right; he's a crime scene investigator too. I forgot." With each sentence, the blonde's voice cracked.

"We should go. He needs to grieve," whispered Ludwig.

The red-eyed man nodded. "We'll be going now, Mr. Kirkland. Call us if you need to. Here's my card." He put his card on the coffee table and took the list the Brit made for him.

"Okay. Thank you." The blonde's eyes fully opened. "I have one more question: how did he die?"

"We don't have the details yet, but we'll ask you to come in when we do," replied Ludwig.

"We're sorry for your loss, Mr. Kirkland," stated Gilbert.

The two left the house, but before they closed the door, the older Beilschmidt brother looked back inside. Arthur had sunk the floor crying. "I didn't even say goodbye to him!"

Ludwig quietly shut the door, and the two walked back to their car.

* * *

><p>Back at the lab, coroner Roderich Edelstein sadly washed and looked over the body.<p>

_He was so young. _He hated seeing children on his table; they didn't deserve to be murdered.

He looked up when he heard Vash and Elizaveta enter the room.

"So, Roderich, did you find the cause of death?" asked the Hungarian.

"Yes. Blunt force trauma. He was hit on the head with a heavy object, most likely metal. He suffered from a subdural hematoma, meaning that blood vessels around the brain were torn, and the pressure of the blood against the tissues that adhere to the skull and surround the brain caused the brain to painfully compress. This boy probably felt like his head was being crushed. It took awhile for him to die, and it would have been painful."

"What about the other wounds?" asked Vash, his voice icy.

"Well, the injuries on his chest, torso, arms, and face came from a knife. The ones on his back, however…" he gently flipped the boy over. "The ones on his back came from a whip." He glared at the angry red gashes. "All these injuries were pre-mortem, and they happened before the fatal blow was dealt."

"So he was tortured?" asked Elizaveta.

"It looks that way."

"That means that whoever killed him took him somewhere, inflicted these injuries, and dumped him in the alley while he was still alive," hypothesized Vash. "Was he…"

"No," assured Roderich. "I found no signs of sexual assault. Thank God. Whoever did this must have been a sadist, though: this was no crime of opportunity. It was definitely planned out."

"Why the hell would someone target Peter Kirkland?" Elizaveta wondered aloud. "When Kiku and Yao searched his name online, they discovered he was an honor student, on the swim team, and a talented actor. He seems like an ordinary kid."

"That's what we're trying to find out," stated Vash. "We'll catch the bastard who did this." His fingers were itching to pull the trigger on whoever ended the young boy's life prematurely.

* * *

><p>The next day, Ludwig and Gilbert went to talk to the Oxenstierna-Väinämöinens while Vash and a short, black-haired investigator named Kiku Honda went to talk with Raivis.<p>

The house that Peter's best friend lived in was a bit dilapidated, though it was in a good neighborhood. The paint on the door was peeling, and the small porch sank a bit in the middle. Since the doorbell looked to be broken, Vash settled for knocking loudly on the door.

Soon after, the door opened, revealing a kind-looking young man with wavy brown hair. "Can I help you with something?" he asked, his voice cheerful. Vash also noticed that he had an accent of some sort, though he couldn't place it. "Are you lost, or hungry? Would you like a snack?"

Before the brunet could continue to ramble, Vash held up a hand. "We're with the crime lab. Is Raivis Galante home?"

"Yes, he is," said the man (though Vash thought he looked more like an older teenager). "I don't understand, though. Raivis hasn't left the house in a couple of days, and he wouldn't commit a crime."

"I'm sure he wouldn't," Kiku replied politely. "We just need to ask him a few questions about Peter Kirkland."

"Peter? What happened to him? He was supposed to come over last night, but he never showed up. Raivis was so worried."

"Peter was tortured and murdered two nights ago," stated Vash.

The brunet gasped. "Please, come in. My name is Toris by the way, Toris Lorinaitis. I'm Raivis' brother. I'll get him. I just have one request: let Eduard—our other brother—and me sit with him. He's very shy and easily frightened."

"Be my guest." The Swiss man shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't mean to pry, but shouldn't your parents be here?" asked Kiku.

"We have no parents; they've been dead since we were very young. We're not even related by blood in any way. All three of us were in…foster care…together, and hated it. When I turned eighteen last year, I wanted to become Raivis' and Eduard's legal guardian. Luckily, I had two stable jobs and enough money to support them. Eduard works as well."

Vash and Kiku both nodded, but narrowed their eyes when Toris paused when he said 'foster care'. It just seemed suspicious. But the blonde shrugged it off. _Maybe he had a bad experience. _

"How old are they?" he asked.

"Eduard is seventeen and Raivis is fifteen." He tucked some of hair behind his ear. "I'll get them now." He proceeded to walk upstairs.

A minute later, he returned, followed by a blonde boy with glasses and a short boy with pale blonde hair and large violet eyes.

"Raivis," Toris placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. "These people are police officers. They need to ask you a few questions about Peter. Eduard and I will be with you; you don't have to be shy."

The boy nodded and sat on the worn couch. Toris and Eduard sat on either side of him.

"Raivis," Vash began, "Peter was your best friend, right?"

"Y-yeah," he said softly, wringing his hands. "H-he was the only one who didn't tease me. H-he's such a good friend."

"What were his hobbies?" He wanted to know everything he could about the victim, so that he could figure out a reason for the gruesome murder.

"H-he loves swimming; he's one of the best swimmers on the team. H-he also loves acting; he was in countless p-plays."

"Would anyone want to hurt him?" This time, it was Kiku who spoke.

"W-what? No! Everyone l-loved Peter! He stuck up for p-people who were considered 'freaks'; h-he always wanted to be the hero." His eyes widened. "S-something happened to him, didn't it? S-someone hurt him."

"Yes. Peter Kirkland was tortured before being killed two days ago," stated the Japanese man.

Raivis' eyes, which were already watering, spilled over, and he began to tremble. He brought his knees to his chest and sobbed, muttering phrases in an unfamiliar language.

Vash hated to see children crying; he was reminded of Lili when she was teased for being so soft-spoken. He gently placed a hand on the small boy's head.

Suddenly, Raivis' head snapped up, his eyes wide. They were no longer filled with grief. Instead, they were filled with raw terror. "Don't hurt me, not again," he whimpered.

Vash stepped back, confused, and Eduard wrapped his arms around the boy, who shook even more. The investigator could sense that his breathing sped up. Finally, the small blonde stopped shaking, falling limp.

Raivis had fainted.

* * *

><p>And that's the end of Chapter One!<p>

Was it good? Was it awful? I'd love to get some feedback.

I hope I didn't butcher the characters too much. Here's an explanation on why I gave some characters their jobs:

Vash and Ludwig are policemen. (Think of Brass, Flack, and Tripp from the three CSI series, except they're not the captains.) This is because Vash likes guns and he's neutral, and Ludwig just seems like he'd make a good police officer.

Elizaveta is the day shift supervisor (Think of Grissom from CSI) because I wanted to give her a big part. Plus, she's a strong female character, so it made sense to make her the supervisor.

Roderich is the coroner because I really didn't know what other position to give him, XD. Plus, even though he's bad with navigation, I always thought he'd have an eye for detail.

As for the captain of the police, I'm giving that job to Germania. (I just don't know what to name him yet, XD.)

…Yes, I made Yao the computer specialist, XDD.

I really struggled with Vash, Ludwig, and Gilbert. I hope they weren't too OOC.

…Poor Sealand. I've never killed off a character before, so it felt weird to write his death. I bumped his age up to fourteen to make his and Raivis' friendship more realistic.

Speaking of the Baltics, they are EXTREMELY important in this story, and Raivis' outburst is a tiny little clue about his (and Toris' and Eduard's) backstory.

The next chapter will include the Nordic Five (I love them, XD), more investigating, and maybe another murder…

The title is just a reference to Arthur's horrible cooking.

I hope at least a few people enjoyed this.


	2. Pretty In Pink

Welcome to Chapter Two! If you're reading this, it means you liked the last chapter. (Hopefully)

Francis Bonnefoy: France

Søren Køhler: Denmark

Nikolai Pettersen: Norway

Erikur Pettersen: Iceland

Antonio Fernández Carriedo: Spain

Lovino Vargas: Romano (South Italy)

Feliciano Vargas: Italy (North Italy)

Ivan Braginsky: Russia

Feliks Łukasiewicz: Poland

Giovanni Antonelli: Seborga

Lieu Nguyễn: Vietnam

Im Yong-Soo: South Korea

Jans Sankt: Germania

Yekaterina 'Katyusha' Braginskaya: Ukraine

This story won't be too long; it'll have three more chapters after this one.

A special thank-you goes out to **I . Heart. Good. Fiction**, my first reviewer. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! This chapter is dedicated to you.

Hetalia doesn't belong to me. If it did, the series would focus on the Baltics and the Nordics, XD.

* * *

><p>Chapter Two: Pretty in Pink<p>

When Gilbert and Ludwig arrived at the Oxenstierna-Väinämöinen household, the older Beilschmidt brother's feet felt like lead. Telling Arthur Kirkland that his younger brother was brutally tortured and murdered really drained him; he really didn't want to repeat the story to the boy's guardians.

"Hey West," he said, turning to his brother. (The nickname came from an old joke about how he and Ludwig were as opposite as east and west.)

"Yes?" asked the blonde. "And don't call me 'West'!"

"Would you mind explaining to them what happened? I already did it yesterday."

"Sure." Ludwig patted him on the shoulder. Though the two brothers were total opposites, they cared about one another, and understood each other's strengths and weaknesses.

"Just be nice about it," cautioned Gilbert. "You don't want to be robotic."

His younger brother glared at him, and rang the doorbell.

Someone could be heard running to the door, and it quickly opened. "H'llo. May I h'lp ya?"

Standing in the doorway was one of the tallest men Gilbert had ever seen. He inwardly gulped; the man's face looked unfriendly, and his blue-green eyes seemed to stare through his soul.

"Um, yes," he finally said. "Are you Berwald Oxenstierna or Tino Väinämöinen?"

"'m Berw'ld," the tall man mumbled. "What d'you wan'?"

"I'm afraid we have some bad news," the albino replied. "May we come inside?"

"F'ne. D'you want me t' get the oth'rs?"

"Sure, sure." Gilbert waved his hand.

He was only expecting Tino, so when Berwald came back with _four _people instead of one, he cursed inside his mind. _Shit! Only Berwald and Tino are meant to hear this! _

Before he could send them away, Ludwig spoke. "Besides Berwald and Tino, are any of you close to Peter Kirkland?"

"Hell yeah we are!" exclaimed another tall man, this one looking much friendlier than Berwald. "We're Berwald's and Tino's friends, but Peter's like family to us!"

The younger Beilschmidt nodded. "Then you may stay. Just tell me all your names."

"Okay," answered the loud man. "I'm Søren Køhler. The blonde guy next to Berwald is Tino. This handsome guy next to me…" He pointed to a man with sandy blonde hair, blue-violet eyes, and an apathetic expression. "…is Nikolai Pettersen. Next to him is his younger brother Erikur."

After Søren introduced him, Erikur spoke. "You said there was bad news, and asked who knew Peter. What happened to him?"

_Christ, _thought Gilbert, _he looks to be around the same age. He could be Peter's classmate! _

"How old are you?" he asked.

"What? I'm sixteen, but what does that have to do with anything?" The silver-haired boy's pale blue eyes were filled with concern, though his tone of voice was neutral.

"All five of you better sit down," sighed Gilbert.

"You all know how Peter was going to spend a couple of nights at Raivis Galante's, right?" asked Ludwig.

"S'right," Berwald replied. "Raiv's is a good k'd; he's Pet'r's best fr'end."

"Well, he…he never made it. On the way someone…murdered him."

_That's good, West, take it slow, _thought the white-haired man.

After a long silence, Søren spoke. "WHAT?"

"He was tortured before finally being killed. Do any of you have any enemies?"

Throughout this entire conversation, Tino gripped Berwald's hand tightly, biting his lip. When Gilbert looked closer, he saw that tears were streaming down his face.

"Are you sure it was him?" Nikolai finally spoke. His voice was apathetic, but his eyes gave away his sadness.

"Arthur identified him earlier today," Gilbert explained. "We have…we have a picture if you want." He began to take the photo out of his bag.

"NO!" Tino yelled. "Not here. I don't want any pictures."

"But Tino, we need to make sure it's him," said Søren, rubbing one of his eyes.

"Shut up!" the shorter blonde stood up and grabbed the tall man by the front of his shirt. "Arthur already indentified him, you son of a bitch! He's dead. My son is dead!"

After the outburst, he sank to the floor, silently crying. Berwald gently lifted him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him.

"Was 't painl'ss?"

Gilbert pinched the bridge of his nose. "No. …He suffered from a subdural hematoma. Do you know what that is?"

The intimidating man closed his eyes, and the albino could have sworn that a tear slid down his cheek. "Y's," he said softly, "I know wh't it is."

"I know I already asked this, but do you have any enemies?" asked Ludwig. "They could have been trying to get to you by hurting Peter."

"There was one person," said Søren, his eyes burning with fury. "He stalked Tino for months, then tried to hurt him when he refused to talk to him."

"What's his name?" asked Gilbert, taking out his notebook and a pencil.

"Braginsky," the blue-eyed man replied. "Ivan Braginsky."

"But he couldn't have done it," added Nikolai. "He's been dead for awhile. He killed himself five years ago."

"Thanks for the name, though; it could be helpful later," said the German.

"One more thing," the white-haired man stated. "How long have you known Peter, Tino?" He was curious about why the blonde was so distraught, even though he had adopted the boy only a year before.

"I knew him since he was born," Tino answered after a long pause. "When my family moved to the U.K. from Finland, I met Arthur, and we became close friends. I was with Peter when he was a baby. Then, the Kirklands moved here when Arthur started high school and Peter was three. After high school, I moved here as well, and met up with them again during college."

"I get it." Gilbert realized that the Finn had practically known Peter all his life. That made this conversation even worse.

* * *

><p>Vash was confused as to why Raivis fainted. "Is he okay?"<p>

"Yes, he's fine," stated Toris, who looked sympathetically at the smaller boy. "That happens sometimes. Raivis is very jumpy—he always has been—and is prone to panic attacks. Hearing that Peter was murdered put too much stress on his mind."

The Swiss man narrowed his eyes. The explanation sounded reasonable enough, but he was still suspicious. When he had tried to comfort the boy by placing a hand on his head, he became terrified. He also begged him not to hurt him. The green-eyed man was pretty sure that Raivis Galante was abused by someone. He kept his suspicions to himself, however.

"We don't have any more questions anyways. We should probably get going," he finally said.

"Oh, okay," replied Toris. "Can I have both of your cards, in case one of us needs to contact you?"

"Sure." The blonde gave the boy one of his cards, while Kiku handed one to Eduard (who was still holding Raivis).

Suddenly, Vash noticed a fly buzzing around his head. When the sound got too annoying, he slapped it away. As soon as his hand moved past Toris' face, the younger man winced and clenched his fists.

"Well, thanks for the hospitality, Toris-san," said Kiku, nodding at the brunet.

Both investigators then left the house.

"Something's up with them." Vash wanted to voice his thoughts to someone, and he knew that the Japanese man would listen.

"I agree. I saw Toris' reaction to you swatting that fly away. It's like he expected to be hit."

"Same thing with Raivis," said the blonde. "I don't know about Eduard, but I'm pretty sure the other two were abused some time in their lives."

"I'll tell Yao to do some research on them."

"Thanks, Kiku." Vash wasn't sure why he cared so much about the three brothers, but he did. _I wonder why they didn't say anything, though. We're the police; we could have helped them. _

* * *

><p><strong>The next day…<strong>

"We only allow two people at a time in here, but I think we'll make an exception for you." Elizaveta brought the five men (well, the four men and one teenager) down to the morgue once she learned their names and realized whose body they wanted to see.

She noticed that Tino had his hand intertwined with Berwald's, and that Søren stood almost protectively behind Nikolai and Erikur. _How cute! _If it was a less-serious time, she'd want to pull out her camera and take pictures of the group.

When they were outside the room, she spoke once more. "Are you ready?"

Tino brushed aside a few tears and nodded.

"Our coroner, Roderich Edelstein, is also here, if you have any questions."

With that, the Hungarian opened the door.

It was heartbreaking for Elizaveta to see everyone's reactions to the body. Søren clenched and unclenched his fists, looking angry, Nikolai tilted his head (his emotions weren't really obvious), and Erikur closed his eyes, bringing a hand to his mouth.

"He would have gone to my school this year," the teenager said, his voice detached.

Berwald's and Tino's expressions were the worst, though.

_Well of course they are; Peter was their son. _

Berwald had his hand above the boy's forehead. He pushed a chunk of hair away from his face. "He alm'st looks l'ke he's asl'p. I h'pe he's somewh're nice."

He turned away, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

Tino just stood; his eyes fixed on the body, his mouth open in a silent scream.

"Why would anyone do this?" he finally said. "He was just a boy. How could someone _enjoy _hurting him?" After he spoke, he turned around and walked out of the morgue. Berwald and the rest of his friends followed.

Before Erikur left, however, he spoke. "Was Peter the first victim?"

Elizaveta was startled, "Yes. Why?"

"This just seems like the work of a serial killer. I learned all about them when I took psychology last year." The sliver-haired teen shrugged. "But what do I know; I'm no expert." He then left.

_A serial killer? _thought the brunette.

Erikur's words echoed in her head until she reached Wang Yao's computer lab. The Chinese man was listening to music. While dancing with the giant Hello Kitty (though he said it was called 'Shinatty-chan') pillow he kept in the lab.

"Hey Yao!" Elizaveta yelled. When he didn't respond, she removed the earbuds from his ears and slapped him on the back of his head. "You're lucky I don't have my frying pan with me, Panda Boy!"

"Aru~!" he yelped. The Hungarian was famous for threatening to hit people (mostly Gilbert and Francis Bonnefoy, the fingerprint specialist) with a frying pan. She really had one in her office, but she never hit anyone with it. Yet. He put down the pillow and turned off his mp3 player. "Ahem. What do you need, aru?"

The brunette rolled her eyes at the computer specialist's verbal tic. "I need you to see if there were any murders this year that were similar to Peter Kirkland's."

"Will do, aru."

"Thanks, Yao you're so sweet!" Elizaveta adjusted her hairclip. "On a more serious note, do you think Alfred's okay? He's not allowed to investigate, since it's personal for him, and he's assigned to another case, but have you seen him outside the crime lab?"

"No, I haven't but my cousin Lieu Nguyễn has, aru."

"Wait, didn't they hate each other?"

"They did back in college, aru. Now, they're on good terms. She called me the other day, after you sent Alfred home. Apparently, he went to her house and completely broke down, aru."

"Oh," replied the brunette. "Wait? When you say 'good terms', how _good _are they?"

"Very good, if you catch my drift, aru. They've been dating for six months."

"How the hell didn't I notice?" the Hungarian whined. "Too bad, I thought he and that Arthur guy he always talks about would have been a great couple. Or maybe him and Kiku, since he seems to like Asians…" She cleared her throat when Yao looked at her weirdly. "Anyways, I've got to go bother Antonio about the DNA that was found on Peter's duffle bag. See ya later, Panda Boy."

When she made it to the DNA lab, she heard Antonio singing a song about 'bueno tomatoes'. _Of course_.

When she entered the lab, the Spanish man smiled and said, "Hola, chica. ¿Cómo estás hoy?"

"Hola, Antonio. I'm good. And do you know what would make my day even better?"

The brunet smiled, his green eyes twinkling. "A date with me?"

Elizaveta promptly slapped the back of his head. "Nice try; I'm married. And who do you think you are? _Francis?_"

"Well, he _did _teach me some pickup lines…Anyways, you're here to see if I know who the hair on the duffel bag belonged to, right."

"¡Sí, excelente, Sr. Fernández Carriedo!" The Hungarian clapped, laughing. "Do you have it?"

"Sí, chica. The hair we found matched the DNA of a woman named Yekaterina Braginskaya. She's a nurse, and apparently the hospital she works at makes their employees give some of their DNA to a police database."

"All right. Call Sankt and tell him to bring her in," stated the brunette.

Antonio saluted her. "Will do, Lizzie!"

"Don't call me 'Lizzie' you tomato-loving idiot!" she yelled as she exited the lab.

As she was walking to Captain Jans Sankt's office, she ran into Yao.

"Oh, good! I was looking for you, aru. You were right; there _was _another murder similar to Peter's. It happened last year in the city next to ours, and the killer was never found. The victim's name was Giovanni Antonelli. He was a fourteen-year-old too." The Chinese man showed her a photo of the boy's corpse on his laptop. "As you can see, the injuries are almost identical. Though no DNA was found anywhere on the body, the cuts were sloppier, aru. And take a look at this."

He zoomed in on the boy's chest, near his neck. "See that, aru?"

"Yeah," answered Elizaveta. "It looks like a word was carved near his neck. What the hell does 'Nil' mean?"

"Here's the interesting part. 'Nil' means 'zero' in Latin, aru," Yao replied.

"So this was victim zero," the brunette realized.

"Exactly, aru."

"Thanks, Yao; you're a star. Now we know we're dealing with a possible serial killer."

"Here's another interesting fact, aru. Giovanni was the younger cousin of the Vargas twins."

The Hungarian's eyes narrowed. Antonio was good friends with Lovino Vargas, the older—and more foul-mouthed—twin, while Ludwig friends with Feliciano, the younger—and more cheerful—twin. "No wonder Toni and Ludwig were depressed last year."

After a brief pause, she continued talking. "Well, I've got to be going. I'm just going to wait in Sankt's office until he brings a suspect in for questioning. See you later!"

With that, she power walked to the Legolas-lookalike's office.

* * *

><p>Vash and Ludwig were returning from a routine patrol when the younger Beilschmidt brother's walkie-talkie squawked to life.<p>

"Beilschmidt, we've got a four-nineteen on River Street. I repeat, four-nineteen on River Street!"

"This is Beilschmidt; I understand. I'll be there as soon as I can."

With that, Vash turned on the sirens, and they sped over to the new crime scene, which, like Peter's, was in an alley.

When the two walked underneath the crime scene tape and saw the body, Vash paused. "It's a girl?" he muttered. "Verdammt!" He walked closer to look at the victim. She was dressed in a tight, beige long-sleeved shirt (at least it used to be beige; now it was covered in blood), a pink miniskirt, and pink boots. When the Swiss man looked over the body again, he realized that this girl was missing something all girls had. "She's _male,_" he breathed. "He must be a crossdresser."

Whatever the victim's orientation was, he was still a person. And the blonde felt sickened by what he saw. The boy—he was sure that he was around nineteen—had the same cuts on his face as Peter Kirkland. When he lifted up the shirt a bit, he saw that he had them on his stomach too. The only difference between the two murders was that this boy's eyes were stabbed out, and that his mouth wasn't covered. Blood coated his once-shiny golden-blonde hair, and the Swiss man would bet that he had the same head injury as Peter.

Suddenly, Ke$ha's 'Tik Tok' (Vash knew the song because Yao liked to dance to it in his lab) blared from the victim's phone, which was on the ground next to him. After putting on a latex glove, he answered it.

"Oh, Feliks, thank God you picked up! I was so worried about you!"

Vash nearly dropped the phone. He knew that voice. "Toris?"

"Huh? Officer Zwingli? Why are you on Feliks' phone? Don't tell me he tried to spray paint a squad car pink again!"

"Um, Toris, has Feliks been missing for long?"

"Yeah," the teen answered. "I haven't seen him for two days. Why? Did something happen to him?"

"He's dead, Toris."

"What?" The brunet let out a strangled gasp. "No, he can't be dead. He just _can't _be!"

"Would you like me to come over to talk after my shift?" _What the hell am I saying? I shouldn't care this much about someone; I _hate _people. Except Ludwig, Elizaveta, and Lili, of course._

"That'll be great." The relief was obvious in the boy's voice.

"Would Eduard and Raivis like to talk too? I have a feeling there's more to this than you told me last time." _There I go again! What the hell? _

"Y-you're right, Officer Zwingli. I've dealt with this on my own for too long."

"Toris, does this have anything to do with Peter's murder?" Vash questioned.

"No. But it has everything to do with Raivis, Eduard, and I. I…I just need someone to talk to." The boy sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

That settled it for the blonde. "I'll be at your house as soon as my shift is over. See you then."

"Bye."

_I can just imagine Lili's face when she discovers I'm becoming…social. _The Swiss man sighed.

* * *

><p>While Vash was talking with someone on the victim's phone, Ludwig heard a rustling noise near the alley. Suddenly, a man dressed in a white hoodie and jeans ran past him.<p>

_It could be a suspect! _Making sure his badge was in place, he grabbed his gun and ran after him.

"Stop! Police!" he yelled.

The man came to a complete halt, and turned around. "Thank God!" he exclaimed. "I was being chased by someone, but I think he left when he saw you."

"Did you know you just ran through a crime scene Mr…"

"My name's Im Yong-Soo," answered the man, who looked Korean to Ludwig.

"So, Yong-Soo," the German questioned, "who was chasing you, and why."

"Well, it's a funny story," the Korean man blushed. "I accidentally sat on this guy at a bus station. I had no idea he was even there; he was invisible or something. Anyways, this Cuban guy who was with him got pissed and chased me because I was rude to his friend. I'm just glad he's gone now."

Ludwig tried not to laugh at the man's ridiculous story. "Well, since you did run through a crime scene, you're considered a suspect, and will need to come down to the station for questioning."

"Whatever." Yong-Soo shrugged. "As long as I don't see that crazy Cuban or his invisible friend again."

Once he asked Captain Sankt for permission to leave, he and Vash (as well as Yong-Soo) got into the squad car.

"You do know that police cars were invented in Korea, right."

Ludwig really wanted to facepalm. _This_ _guy's the Asian version of Feliciano._

"Hey Ludwig," asked Vash. "Would you mind dropping me off at Raivis' house?"

"Now?" the German wondered. "Why?"

"Toris wanted to talk to me about something, and I want him to answer a few questions about Feliks, the second victim. They were good friends."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>When Vash knocked on the door, he knew something was wrong. It swung open, and a bookcase was on the floor. "Toris?" he called. "Eduard? Raivis?"<p>

When he got no answer, he walked inside, drawing his gun (just in case), and inspecting the living room. When he was sure that no one was there, he headed into the kitchen.

He heard sniffling noises coming from behind the island. When he walked to the other side, he nearly dropped his gun. Toris was curled up against the wall, blood dripping from injuries on his face and arms.

"What the hell happened?"

"He listened in on our conversation. He didn't like what I said, so he came here to punish me."

"Toris? What are you talking about? Who did this to you?" Vash felt his heart rate speed up; he was uncharacteristically worried. He sat on the ground next to the injured boy. "Are Raivis and Eduard okay?"

"Yes, they're fine they're in the basement. About the attacker...h-he was wearing a mask, but I knew who he was. His eyes. Those damn eyes…" The brunet's breathing sped up, and he gripped Vash's shoulders, babbling in a language that was neither German nor English. The Swiss man didn't know what it was.

"You know who did this?" The blonde didn't care that there was blood on his newly-cleaned uniform at the moment.

"Taip." Vash assumed this meant 'yes' by the tone. Tears began to slide down the boy's face. "Ivan Braginsky. He's back."

* * *

><p>And that's the end of Chapter Two!<p>

I hope the interactions between the investigators was amusing and realistic. (I wanted to make Elizaveta seem more in-character, so I brought in her frying pan and yaoi-fangirlism.)

Yao was so much fun to write. I know he's a bit OOC, but he's loveable.

Germania totally looks like Legolas, XD.

Just in case you were wondering: 'brunet' is the male version of 'brunette'. It's a real word.

I loved writing about Antonio! (Finally! I can put my four years of Spanish classes to good use!)

Argh! Gilbert is so hard to write! (He'll say 'awesome' later, don't worry.)

The scene with the Nordic Five in the morgue made me cry. Hopefully you do too, XD. (It's supposed to be a sad scene.)

Speaking of the Nordic Five, Sweden-speech is **really **hard to write. I wanted to make him sound like he's grumbling, but make it so it's still easy to read and intelligible. Hopefully, I succeeded.

…Well, now you know that Giovanni (Seborga) was Victim Zero. Peter was the first victim, Feliks was the second, so who's going to be the third? I know, but I'm not spoiling it.

Ooh, Ukraine is a suspect! Bet you didn't see that coming, XD.

Lol, Im Yong-Soo. I wanted to add some comic relief to the chapter. (Hopefully it's not too horrible.) …And Canada and Cuba made a cameo. If you didn't guess, they were the ones chasing Yong-Soo.

Yes, there were hints of AmericaxVietnam in this chapter, XD. I always thought that the pairing was interesting, and it fit with this story.

Gahh! I hate making Russia evil, but he just fits the role too well in AUs. And someone has to be the villain.

Translations:

**Hola, chica. ¿Cómo estás hoy?: **Hello, girl. How are you today? _(Spanish)_

**Sí,****excelente,**** Sr. ****Fernández****Carriedo****!: **Yes, excellent, Mr. Fernández Carriedo! _(Spanish)_

**Verdammt: **Damn _(German)_

**Taip: **Yes _(Lithuanian)_

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	3. Salty Tears and Saltier Licorice

Welcome to Chapter Three! This story is fun to write, so I'm glad people like it.

If anyone is interested, there is a poll on my profile asking who you think the killer is.

Many thanks go to **RomaneLuka,** **Kokyou Konran, **and **I. Heart. Good. Fiction, **who reviewed.

There will probably be one more chapter and an epilogue. I know this is a short story, but I might write a sequel to it (or another murder case.) I really like this AU, though, so I'm definitely not finished with it.

This will be a long chapter.

The first scene of this chapter might be confusing. It takes place a day before Feliks was killed. (That should clear up some of the confusion.) You also get to find out who Elizaveta is married to.

Here's a list of the investigative team, in case people forgot who was in it and who wasn't in it.

Day shift supervisor: Elizaveta

Coroner: Roderich

DNA specialist: Antonio

Fingerprint specialist: Francis

Technology specialist: Yao

Toxicology specialist: Morgens (He'll be introduced in the next chapter)

Field investigators: Gilbert, Alfred, Kiku

Police officers: Ludwig, Vash

Police captain: Jans (everyone addresses him by 'Sankt', his surname)

…I realize that Vash would have made a perfect ballistics expert, but then he wouldn't be able to go out into the field and be awesome, XD. That's why he's a police officer.

Natalia Arlovskaya: Belarus

Leon Li: Hong Kong

Morgens Van der Berg: Netherlands

Hetalia doesn't belong to me. If it did, Norway and England would have a battle with their magical creatures, and Denmark and America would be the spectators (though they can't see what's going on, XD).

* * *

><p>Chapter Three: Salty Tears and Saltier Licorice<p>

_Elizaveta had just gotten off the phone with Berwald and walked into her bedroom. _

_"Who was that?" Gilbert asked, putting his journal down._

_"Berwald Oxenstierna." The brunette sighed and climbed onto the bed. "He wanted to see Peter Kirkland's body tomorrow."_

_"Oh. Is he bringing everyone?" asked the albino. _

_"I think so."_

_"I hated going over there today, Lizzie, I really did," Gilbert said after a brief pause. "Their faces when West and I told them about Peter were…not awesome."_

_The Hungarian draped an arm around her husband's shoulders. Around others, the (self-proclaimed) Prussian was loud, boisterous, and brave. But around her, he was a different person. He let his vulnerabilities show._

_Eliaveta might have said she hated him during college, and threatened him with her frying pan a few times, but she honestly loved the man. She hated seeing him upset. She kissed his forehead._

_"We should get some sleep; we have a busy day tomorrow."_

Elizaveta was broken out of her thoughts when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Bonjour, Lizzie." Francis Bonnefoy wiggled his eyebrows.

"What the hell is it, Francy-Pants? It better not be one of your stupid pickup lines. I'm married to one of your best friends, remember? And don't call me 'Lizzie'!"

The Frenchman pouted. "Your words wound me. I just wanted to let you know that Sankt is at a crime scene right now. The Alley Killer struck again. He said that he wouldn't be able to pick up that Braginskaya woman for questioning until he's done there."

The Hungarian nodded. "The Alley Killer?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Oui," replied the blonde. "That's what the media is calling Peter's killer." He paused to take a breath. "I also wanted to give you this." He handed the brunette a package.

"What is that?"

Francis shrugged, "Some kid with a weird Nordic name passed me in the hallway before he left. He told me to give it to you."

"Erikur?" Eliaveta guessed.

"Yeah, that was it!" He nodded. "I hate to cut this short, but I have to get back to my lab."

"Okay," answered the brunette.

The Frenchman nodded, exiting the office.

_I wonder what Erikur sent me, _she thought.

The box wasn't sealed, so she opened it easily.

The first thing she saw was a note.

_**Mrs. Héderváry (I know you're a 'Mrs.'; I saw the wedding ring you wore when I was in the morgue earlier today), **_

_**After the Beilschmidt brothers left Berwald's and Tino's house yesterday, my friend Leon Li and I did some research on a man named Ivan Braginsky. I'm sure one of the Beilschmidts told you about him. He's the man who stalked Tino six years ago, according to Nikolai.**_

_**Apparently, Braginsky was a very troubled man. Before stalking Tino, he attacked a man named Tobiasz Łukasiewicz for 'looking at him the wrong way'. Łukasiewicz didn't press any charges. When I searched his name, I discovered that he died in a hit and run last year.**_

_**Anyways, back to Braginsky. Yesterday, Leon and I went looking through Tino's room for anything that had to do with him. We found a restraining order against him, a copy of his death certificate, and a few pictures. These items are in the box.**_

_**I know Braginsky is dead, but something is off. Things just don't add up. (Look at the death certificate; you'll see what I mean.)**_

_**I sincerely hope you find whoever killed Peter. He was a good friend, and he didn't deserve to be put through so much pain.**_

_**I hope this helps you solve the case.**_

_**-Erikur Pettersen**_

_**P.S. If you do find this helpful, Leon wants us to be credited in some way. That's why I told you his name.**_

Elizaveta narrowed her eyes before removing everything from the box. Like the note said, there were three photos, a copy of Ivan Braginsky's death certificate, and the restraining order. She decided to look at the pictures first.

The first one was of a tall man holding a sunflower in one hand. His expression was cheerful, but his eyes were cold, and the brunette decided there _was _something off about him, though she didn't know what. His eyes were an unusual light violet color, and a thick, pinkish scarf was wrapped around his neck. She assumed this was Ivan. When she flipped over the picture, she found that she was right; the words 'Ivan Braginsky' were written in the top right corner of it.

The second picture was of Ivan and two girls, one on either side of him. One was a cheerful-looking young woman with pretty blue eyes, bobbed hair, and…large breasts. The other was serious-looking, a scowl on her face. Her hair was long, and her eyes were a shade lighter than Ivan's. When Elizaveta flipped this photo over, the names 'Yekaterina Braginskaya (Ivan's sister)', 'Ivan Braginsky', and 'Natalia Arlovskaya (Ivan's half-sister)' were written.

She almost dropped the photo. _'Yekaterina Braginskaya'? That's the name of our suspect! She's Ivan Braginsky's sister?_

She realized that Erikur was right; there _was _something suspicious about the Russian man.

Her hands almost shaking, she put the photo down, and picked up the third. This one, unlike the others, didn't have Ivan in it. Instead, three young boys with scared expressions on their faces were staring back at her. A blonde boy with glasses had his arms wrapped around the shortest one, and the final boy—a brunet with a bruise around one eye—stood behind the others, his hands on the bespectacled boy's shoulders. Elizaveta quickly flipped the photo over. The names 'Toris Lorinaitis', 'Eduard von Bock', and 'Raivis Galante' were scrawled in messy handwriting on the middle of the blank side.

_Raivis Galante was the name of Peter Kirkland's best friend. Why would a picture of him be with a bunch of Ivan Braginsky-related items? _

The Hungarian put the photo back on the table. _This case is getting so complicated. _

She looked at the restraining order next. She decided there was really nothing special about it; it basically stated that Ivan wasn't allowed anywhere near Tino.

Finally, she looked at the death certificate. It said that Ivan Braginsky died from a gunshot wound to the head. There were three signatures on the bottom of it: one was the doctor's, one was the coroner's, and the third was the nurse's. Yekaterina Braginskaya's signature.

_What? _

Suddenly suspicious, she logged into her laptop and opened her internet browser.

_Yao's the tech specialist, but that doesn't mean I can't research leads on my own._

She found a medical database filled with the names of most doctors in the U.S., and searched for one person who signed Ivan's death certificate.

There were zero matches, so she searched doctors around the world. Still no matches.

_I'm going to let Yao research this more, but I'm pretty sure the doctor and coroner don't exist._

She hoped that Sankt would be back soon; she wanted to question Yekaterina as soon as possible.

* * *

><p>Vash sat next to Toris, who was crying. After awhile, the brunet wiped his eyes and took a shaky breath.<p>

The Swiss man guessed that the teen was finished crying, at least for awhile. "Toris," he said, as gently as he could. "Who's Ivan Braginsky?"

At the mention of the name, the boy stiffened, closing his eyes.

"You can tell me, you know."

"I-I want to, Officer Zwingli, I really do. But I can't. It'll put Raivis and Eduard in danger."

"What do you mean?" asked the blonde.

Suddenly, Toris gasped and grabbed his arm.

Vash had forgotten about his injuries. _I'm so stupid! He needs medical attention! _He reached for his walkie talkie to call an ambulance, but Toris grabbed his hand.

"No hospitals," he gasped. "Please. He'll kill them if anyone sees!"

_Sees what? _But the investigator kept his thoughts to himself, instead looking around the room. "Do you have a first-aid kit? I can help bandage your wounds." He would respect the boy's wishes, at least for now.

"Yeah. It's in the top cabinet; the one above the refrigerator."

The blonde nodded and grabbed the kit from its shelf.

"You're going to have to remove your shirt."

"What? Can't I just roll up the sleeves?" Toris wrung his hands.

"Toris, your upper arms and shoulders are cut. Rolling up your sleeves won't do anything."

"O-okay." Now he was shaking as much as Raivis did when Kiku questioned him about Peter.

Slowly, he removed his shirt, making sure his back was against the wall after it was off.

"I'm going to need you to move away from the wall. I need to see how severe your injuries are." Vash was getting impatient.

The brunet just shook his head, more tears sliding down his face. "Don't you understand? If you see, he'll kill Eduard and Raivis in front of me!"

"See what?" The Swiss man let his impatience get the better of him. He grabbed Toris' wrist and pulled him closer.

As soon as Vash's hand wrapped around his wrist, the teen hung his head and didn't resist.

"Oh my God!" The investigator let go of the brunet, shocked and sickened. Toris' back was a patchwork of scars and burns. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Braginsky did this to you, didn't he?"

The boy said nothing, silently sobbing.

Vash continued to look over the wounds, saddened. _A lot of those look old. He must have gotten them when he was just a kid. _He snapped himself out of his thoughts and proceeded to bandage the cuts on his arms and shoulders. _Luckily they're not deep, and won't need stitches._

"Toris," he said.

The brunet didn't even acknowledge that he was being talked to.

"Toris," he tried again. "You and your brothers are coming with me, back to the station. You can talk there, if you want."

No response.

"Just nod once for 'yes' and twice for 'no'. Does that sound okay with you?"

One nod.

_That's progress. _Aloud, he said, "I'm going to call Mr. Honda—Kiku—to pick me up. You, Raivis, and Eduard will come with me. It's not safe for you to be here anymore."

One nod.

"Good." The Swiss man grabbed his cell phone and dialed Kiku's number.

"Moshi moshi," said the Japanese man.

"Kiku, this is Vash. I'm at Raivis Galante's house. Something's come up, and the boys are in danger. Can you give us a ride back to the station?"

"Sure, Vash-san. Just one question: where is your vehicle?"

"Ludwig dropped me off here. He couldn't stay because he had to question a suspect." The blonde thought of Im Yong-Soo and rolled his eyes.

"Okay. I will be there soon."

Once the call ended, he kneeled down next to Toris. "You're going to have to get another shirt."

The brunet nodded and went upstairs. When he came back down, he was wearing a green, long-sleeved shirt.

"Ready to go?"

One nod.

"Let's get your brothers then, shall we."

Toris showed Vash where the basement door was. When the two walked down the stairs, the blonde heard muffled crying. _Raivis. _

When they reached the end of the staircase, the investigator realized his assumption was incorrect. Raivis was silently sleeping on the floor, his face still looking tormented even in unconsciousness. Eduard had his arms wrapped around himself, softly sobbing. When he saw Toris, he stood up.

"You idiot!" he yelled, tears still sliding down his face. He ran to the older boy and hugged him. "How could you have locked us down here when you were in danger? We could have helped! You're so stupid!"

"Better me than you two," Toris' voice was soft; Vash could barely hear it. "If he hurt any of you, I wouldn't know what to do."

Suddenly, Eduard drew his hand back and slapped the brunet across the face. "Shut up! You're just as important as Raivis and I!"

Toris' eyes widened, and for a second he looked completely terrified. He backed up against the wall, holding his face, which was bleeding again (the force of the slap re-opened one of the cuts).

The blonde looked at his hand, which now had blood on it, and back at the older boy. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry Toris."

He wrapped his arms around the brunet, who looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. "It's okay. He's gone now. You can relax." He stroked his brother's wavy hair.

"I can never relax, Eduard. As long as he's out there, we'll never be safe."

Vash didn't want to interrupt, but he was pretty sure that Kiku was close to the house. "Ahem," he coughed.

Eduard turned around, looking as though he saw a demon. The terror left his face when he recognized who was standing near him.

"Officer Zwingli? What are you doing here?" he asked, relief evident in his voice.

"Toris invited me over, but he was injured when I arrived. I'm taking you all back to the police station; your attacker might return." He said nothing of Ivan Braginsky; he would talk to them about him once he was sure they were safe.

"Okay," the blonde boy replied. "Just let me get Raivis." He gently picked up the smallest boy and carried him bridal-style. "He's very light for someone his age," he explained. "Because he's so stressed out all the time, he doesn't eat very much."

_What did Braginsky do to them? _

After everyone was upstairs, Vash looked out the window. Sure enough, Kiku was waiting for them, his car parked right outside the house.

"Come on," he said. "Kiku's here."

One the four were in the car, the blonde spoke again. "I know this isn't the best time, but Feliks Łukasiewicz was murdered today, most likely by the same person who killed Peter Kirkland. I just wanted to know more about him."

Eduard nodded, Raivis (who finally woke up) tilted his head sleepily, and Toris put his head in his hands.

"Feliks was my best friend," the brunet finally said, his voice cracking. "He was the most annoying and strange person you could ever meet, but he was just so _kind_. He was really the only person besides Eduard and Raivis who understood me and respected me. I…I can't believe he's gone."

"Um, were you two in a relationship?" Vash felt _really _awkward, but considering what the second victim was wearing, it was entirely possible.

Toris shook his head. "No. He must have been wearing a girl's outfit when…you found him if you're asking me that."

The investigator nodded. "When the body is brought to the morgue…do you want to see it?"

"Yes." The teen bowed his head. "I need to say goodbye to him."

Once they arrived at the police station, Vash took the three boys directly to Elizaveta's office, which was empty. He had texted the Hungarian while he was in the car, and she gave him permission to use the room.

The Swiss man closed the door and offered his guests the couch to sit on. They did.

When everyone was settled, he spoke. "The reason why I brought you here was to find out why Toris was attacked." Speaking directly to the oldest boy, he continued, "You wanted to talk to me when you originally invited me over. What did you want to tell me?"

"I really wanted to tell you; I was so close to telling you, but then _he _showed up and threatened me," the brunet explained.

"Look, Toris, I saw the scars on your back. I know someone hurt you and your brothers some time in your lives, and I know it has to do with someone named Ivan Braginsky. I just need to know what happened. You're at a police station; you're safe."

The teen's eyes were shut, and he bit his lip. "I-I can't."

"NO!" Everyone's heads snapped up; it was Raivis who yelled. "We c-can't keep living this way; i-it's insane! Tell him about I-Ivan, Toris!"

"Very well." Toris took a deep breath. "Ivan Braginsky was our guardian. Eduard, Raivis, and I lived at an orphanage since we were toddlers. We were sent there from different countries: I was from Lithuania, Eduard was from Estonia, and Raivis was from Latvia. We became close friends there. When I was ten, Eduard was eight, and Raivis was six, Ivan adopted us. We were so happy; it was our dream to have a real home." He hollowly chuckled. "Little did we know we'd be entering hell on Earth." He paused, his legs starting to shake.

"He hurt us constantly. He liked to hear our screams. He wouldn't let us go outside, or even look out the windows; he covered them with heavy curtains. He homeschooled us. If we didn't get perfect scores on everything, he'd hit us." He took a deep breath, and continued.

"He'd like to play…games…with us, like hide-and-seek, or chess. If he won, he'd hurt us. If we won, he'd leave us alone. If I was able to, I took Eduard's punishments. I didn't want him to break like I did. But Raivis…I wasn't able to help him."

His eyes started to water. "Raivis was Ivan's favorite, probably because he was so small. He used to be such a cheerful boy, so outspoken; he'd say the first thing that popped into his head. But Ivan got mad a lot; he didn't like it when we had opinions other than his. Oh God, I can still hear Raivis' screams… One time, he tied him to a table, carved the word 'useless' into the skin on his chest, and beat him senseless with a broken faucet pipe. You can see why he doesn't speak much now."

Vash's heart was breaking with every word. He wasn't an emotional person; he prided in being cold, but he felt himself wanting to fire every bullet he owned into Ivan Braginsky's skull.

"You saw my back, Officer Zwingli. Eduard's is just like mine. Raivis' is worse. He has scars on his chest too. He never broke our bones—he couldn't repair those—but he cut us, whipped us, burned us, beat us, and broke our spirits. I'm pretty sure a few other people lived in the house with him; I vaguely remember a woman bandaging my back a few times, and another one singing." He sighed.

"It was after four years of living with him that he finally killed himself. We were sent back to the orphanage. We knew no one would adopt us, but we didn't care. We were too broken."

He shuddered and leaned into Eduard, who wrapped his arms around him.

"We thought that it was all over when Ivan died." This time, the bespectacled boy spoke. "We thought we'd finally be able to be happy. We were, for awhile. I guess nothing lasts forever, though." He sighed.

"After Toris became our legal guardian last year, we started getting threatening letters and phone calls. Though the voice was always distorted in some way, we knew it was him. It _had _to have been; he brought up specific injuries he gave us. He also told us what he _wanted _to do to us once he made his move. God, it was terrifying. We lived every day as though it was going to be our last day free. It was torture."

He stroked Toris' hair. The older boy was still crying into his shirt. "Then, Toris was attacked today. I think you scared him off, Officer Zwingli, so it was a miracle that you showed up. I don't know what would have happened to Toris if you didn't come."

That did it. Vash wasn't about to let the boys go back into their house. Even if it wasn't Ivan, if it was just someone who knew of what happened to them and wanted to exploit their suffering, he wasn't about to leave them after the story they just told.

"Why didn't you go to the police?"

"Because Ivan said that he would torture and kill Raivis and Eduard in front of me, then kill me," explained Toris. "I knew he was capable, so I listened to him."

The Swiss man couldn't believe how evil some people were. If it wasn't for Peter Kirkland's murder, he never would have discovered the terrible crimes Ivan committed.

"Do you have somewhere you can stay, like a friend's house? You could always sleep here, if you want."

"Thanks for the offer, Officer Zwingli, but I do know someone trustworthy," said Eduard.

"Who? I will drive you there; I don't want you out on the streets."

"His name is Tino Väinämöinen. I work at a computer repair shop, and he has the same shift as me. He's twenty-five, but I consider him to be my best friend. He's the only person, besides Toris and Raivis, who understands me."

* * *

><p>Yekaterina Braginskaya sat in a chair in the interrogation room, her hands shaking. Elizaveta, Antonio, and Captain Sankt sat in the chairs opposite of her.<p>

"Ms. Braginskaya," Sankt began.

"Please, call me Katyusha," the woman said.

"Okay, Katyusha. You are here because your DNA was found on the duffle bag of a murder victim."

"What?" she pretty much shrieked. "I would never hurt anyone; I'm a nurse! I want to help people!" Her pale-lavender eyes gleamed, and she glared at Sankt.

"Calm down, chica," said Antonio. "Is there any other reason why your hair might have gotten on the bag?"

The woman slightly relaxed. "I'm being framed, of course. I can't hurt a fly."

_Good job, Toni, _thought Elizaveta. That was the reason why the Spanish man was participating in the interrogation. His voice could be very soothing, and potential suspects often responded to him better than to Sankt or herself.

She looked at Katyusha again, and felt a twinge of uneasiness creep into her stomach, though she couldn't pinpoint the cause of it.

"You are Ivan Braginsky's sister, is that correct?"

Sankt and Antonio turned and looked at her, confused. But she knew what she was doing.

"Yes, that is correct," the woman answered coolly. "But my brother has been dead for five years. I was with him when he died." Her eyes started to water. "Why would you bring him up?"

"Well," answered Elizaveta, "the first victim, Peter Kirkland, was the adopted son of Tino Väinämöinen and his partner. It was a proven fact that Tino took out a restraining order against Ivan, so we naturally assumed that he'd want to hurt Peter to get revenge on Tino. But once we found out that he died, well, that theory fell through." She paused to take a breath. "But I came up with a new one. You were angry that Tino supposedly caused your brother's suicide, so you killed Peter. An eye for an eye, so to speak."

"That's crazy, Mrs. Héderváry, and insulting. It was also quite impossible. I was working the night Peter was killed. Ask my co-workers at Kievan General."

"Will do," stated the Hungarian.

"Can I leave now? You can't prove that I murdered anyone."

"Just one more thing, Katyusha," added Elizaveta. "We're going to need another DNA sample, just for protocol reasons."

"W-why?" Suddenly, the woman's calm tone faltered. "You already have one."

"We take a sample from everyone who's considered a suspect," explained the brunette.

"I can refuse, right?"

"Ms. Braginskaya, it's best if you cooperate," said Antonio.

"…I want a lawyer."

* * *

><p>After Vash dropped the boys off at Tino's house, he went home. He wasn't needed at the station, and he was exhausted. <em>What a long day. <em>It was only sunset, but he wanted to go to sleep.

Suddenly, Toris' terrified face flashed through his mind. _But it's nothing compared to what those kids experienced. I couldn't even imagine what they went through. _All three were younger than him, but acted in a manner that was well beyond their years. _Lili is the same age as Raivis_. He didn't know where that thought came from, but it saddened him. _He never got to have a real childhood. None of them did. Now that Peter's gone, Raivis has no one besides Toris and Eduard. Toris as well; his best friend was killed too. _

Something clicked in his mind, and his eyes opened wide, all tiredness gone. Some of the boys' conversations buzzed through his head.

_'P-peter was my best friend…h-he was the only one who didn't tease me…'_

_'Feliks was my best friend…he was the only person who respected me…'_

_'His name's Tino…I consider him to be my best friend…he's the only one who understands me…'_

As he ran as fast as he could to his squad car, he grabbed his walkie-talkie. "Possible four-nineteen in progress. I repeat, possible four-nineteen in progress! Requesting backup at 1261917 Linnea Way, I repeat, requesting backup at 1261917 Linnea Way!"

He knew who the next victim was going to be.

As soon as he got into his car, he turned on the lights and sped down the street.

_Please let me make it in time!_

He was the first one at the house. The door was open, which was a bad sign. He ran inside the house, and promptly fell to his knees when he saw the destroyed parlor.

Tino Väinämöinen was sprawled out on the floor. Like Peter Kirkland, his shirt was off, and there were various gashes on his chest, arms, and face. Unlike Peter, there was a large knife stabbed through the center of his forehead.

He knew in his heart that it was futile, but he checked the Finnish man's pulse.

Nothing.

Looking down, Vash let a tear escape his eye. It was the first time he cried in years.

He noticed something shine near Tino's outstretched arm, and looked closer. It was a heart-shaped locket.

Putting on a pair of latex gloves he kept in his bag just in case, he picked up the locket and opened it. On one side was a picture of Tino, Berwald, and Peter smiling happily (or at least Tino and Peter were; Berwald's looked more like a grimace). On the other side was an engraving.

_**To my wife, may we be happy for eternity**_

_**-Yours forever, Berwald**_

Vash's eyes began to water, and he dropped the locket and stumbled to his feet.

He wiped his eyes and straightened his jacket when he heard police sirens wailing down the street.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling noise coming from the stairs. Drawing his gun, he carefully walked towards the staircase to find…

A bloody and semi-conscious silver haired boy.

"My name is Erikur Pettersen, sir," he gasped. It was clearly difficult for the boy to speak. "I'm one of Tino's friends. They took the other boys, the ones that came today."

_Toris, Eduard, and Raivis! _Aloud he asked, "They?"

"Já. Ivan Braginsky…and a woman. The one from the photo. Mrs. Héderváry knows what I mean…" The boy closed his eyes, and he fell limp.

Vash quickly checked his pulse, and relieved that it was still there. _He's just unconscious. _

Suddenly, noise filled the silence as police, paramedics, and crime scene investigators entered the house. Soon after, Berwald, Søren, and Nikolai (Vash knew their names and what they looked like from seeing them leave the morgue.) burst through the broken door.

"TINO!" Berwald yelled, for once not mumbling. He ran to the body, sinking to the floor.

Nikolai and Søren noticed Vash by the stairs and began walking towards him. The smaller man let out an inhuman wail when he saw Erikur. "Brother!"

He leaned into Søren, who wrapped his arms around him.

"He's alive," said Vash. "He's just unconscious." Standing up, he yelled, "Can we get a paramedic over here?"

"Thank Odin," Nikolai whispered.

* * *

><p>Because of the confusion in the station when Vash called in a potential murder, Katyusha slipped away, noticed by no one…<p>

* * *

><p>And that's the end of Chapter Three! (Wow! It was really long! XD)<p>

Yes, Elizaveta is married to Gilbert. (PruHun ftw!) She kept her last name because she wanted to. (Some women do.)

Erikur (Iceland) and Leon (Hong Kong) are BFFs, XD. They both seem pretty smart, so I decided to have them investigate too.

Tobiasz Łukasiewicz is Feliks' father. He'll be mentioned in the next chapter, but he's not very important.

England actually calls France 'Francy-Pants' in the English dub. I thought the nickname was hilarious, so that's what Elizaveta calls him.

Poor Toris, Eduard, and Raivis. I put them through so much in this story. (I want to give them all hugs…)

Hopefully you all paid attention during Katyusha's (Ukraine's) interrogation. I just gave away some major clues during that scene.

Poor Tino! –Cries- I can't believe I killed him off; he's one of my all-time favorite characters!

Berwald's reaction is going to be so hard to write.

I hope Nikolai (Norway) isn't too OOC. He seems to really care about Iceland, so I bet he'd show some emotion if he was seriously hurt. –Shrugs- That's just my opinion.

There is a reason why Vash cares about Raivis, Eduard, and Toris. My theory is that he seems really cold and tough, but is really caring towards children in need. (This was based on the episode where he saves Liechtenstein from the alley, feeding her even when he didn't have enough for himself.)

Translations:

**Bonjour: **Hello _(French)_

**Oui: **Yes _(French)_

**Já: **Yes _(Icelandic)_

Odin is the leader of the gods in Norse mythology. (Sort of equivalent to Zeus's position in Greek mythology)

Virtual cookies (Kirkland brand, XD) go to anyone who knows what Tino's and Berwald's address is referencing, as well as the hospital Katyusha works at.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	4. Heaven Is Waiting

Welcome to Chapter Four! The killer will finally be caught in this chapter. There will be one more chapter (an epilogue) after this one.

Here's a recap of the last chapter:

Erikur Pettersen sends Elizaveta items he found related to Ivan Braginsky; Toris is attacked; Vash learns Raivis', Eduard's, and Toris' backstory; Elizaveta, Captain Sankt, and Antonio question Yekaterina 'Katyusha' Braginskaya; Tino Väinämöinen is murdered and Erikur is injured; Toris, Eduard, and Raivis are kidnapped by the killer; Katyusha escapes.

This chapter begins right where the last one left off.

A big thank-you goes out to everyone who reviewed. You're awesome!

This chapter contains a lot of violence.

Lili (Liechtenstein) is fifteen in this story.

Giacomo Rossi: Rome

Morgens Van der Berg: Netherlands

I don't own Hetalia. If I did, the Nordic Five would form a band.

* * *

><p>Chapter Four: Heaven is Waiting<p>

Elizaveta's stomach twisted as she watched Berwald sink to the floor. _Why Tino? He already lost Peter, now _this?

"S'ren, Nik'lai, 'n I w're only at the st're for an hour," the tall man muttered. "I sh'uld've stayed w'th ya." Despite Roderich's objections, he gently closed his partner's eyes. "I h'pe you're with P'ter, Tino."

He looked away, taking off his glasses. He covered his eyes for a few minutes. When he finally looked toward the Hungarian, she noticed his eyes were puffy.

_When is this going to end? _

She walked over to the kitchen, where she saw Vash. The normally stoic man looked frazzled and tired.

"Erikur Pettersen, the boy who was attacked along with Tino, gave me a message to relay to you. He said that _Braginsky_…" He spat the name venomously. "…and a woman were the ones who murdered Tino and took Toris, Raivis, and Eduard. He also said that the woman was from a photo, and that you'd know what that meant."

The brunette nodded. _The photo of Ivan and his sisters. _She took it out from her pocket. "Katyusha Braginskaya, the one on the left, was the one we interrogated. She's in police custody, so she couldn't have been the accomplice. That means it was Natalia Arlovskaya, the one on the right." She looked at the picture closer. "Wait a minute…"

_In this photo, Katyusha is very…busty…and has blue eyes. When we interviewed her, she was skinny with pale-lavender eyes. _After a moment, it hit her. _Shit! No wonder she didn't want to give us a DNA sample! That wasn't Katyusha; it must have been Natalia. That means _Katyusha _is the accomplice!_

She turned back to Vash. "The accomplice wasn't Natalia. She impersonated her sister during the interview. Katyusha is the one we're looking for."

The Swiss man nodded, his eyes narrowed. "We have to find the boys. If Braginsky has them, they're in great danger."

"What's this all about, Vash? What does Braginsky have to do with Raivis and his brothers, and why did he murder Giovanni, Peter, and Feliks?"

"Giovanni was probably just practice," theorized the blonde. "He killed Peter, Feliks, and Tino because they were close to Raivis, Toris, and Eduard. He was their… guardian…before he 'died'."

"He abused them, didn't he." It wasn't a question. The look on the Swiss man's face said it all.

Vash nodded. "I'm afraid that he'll kill them now that he has them."

"Where would he go?"

The blonde closed his eyes. "I don't know."

* * *

><p>Alfred F. Jones was starting to get restless. He hated not being part of the most prominent case of the month. Sure, he investigated another murder, but it turned out to be accidental.<p>

Plus, the Alley Murders were all everyone at the lab was talking about, and he _hated _being out of the loop.

His girlfriend of six months, Lieu Nguyễn, noticed his change in demeanor and put her arm around him. "I know you're upset about not being on the case, but get over it. It's better that you didn't get involved. Your team who catch whoever murdered Peter; I know they will."

Alfred had to smile; the Vietnamese woman never sugar-coated anything. (It was one of the things he loved about her.)

"Fine," he finally said. Thinking about the beautiful weather their city was experiencing, he continued with, "Do you want to go for a walk? It's really nice outside. Plus, I'm sorta hungry, and there's a McDonald's about a mile from here."

"You're such a fatass!" Lieu rolled her eyes. "You are the poster-boy for the stereotypical American!"

The blonde gave the raven-haired woman his best puppy-dog face.

"Oh, stop it; you know that won't work on me."

Alfred sighed. "We can stop at that flower shop you wanted to go to the other day."

"You'll come in with me?"

"…Sure."

"And we'll definitely stop by after you gorge yourself with processed beef?"

"Yeah."

"Throw on a shirt. We're leaving in a minute."

Alfred smiled to himself as he walked down the street next to Lieu. The Vietnamese woman wasn't too keen on public displays of affection, so he didn't hold her hand. Instead, he walked close to her, but gave her the space she wanted.

Once the blonde got what he wanted at McDonald's, the two left the restaurant. On the way to the flower shop, a notebook flew out of a car with tinted windows, hitting the bespectacled man on the head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the side of his head. Lieu only laughed at his misfortune. He picked up the notebook and flipped through it. It was empty save for one page, in the middle.

**HELP US. HOUSE NEAR THE WILLOW TREES. DANGER.**

**T.L., R.G., & E.v.B.**

The words seemed to be scrawled in dark red ink. When Alfred looked at it closer, he realized the paper—or the ink—smelled coppery.

_Wait a minute. _His instincts as an investigator took over. _This is blood. _

"Alfred?" asked Lieu. "What's the matter?"

"I'm afraid I need to go. It looks like some people need help."

"If someone's in trouble, just call the police. They'll handle it."

"Sorry Lieu-Lieu; I'm an investigator too." He quickly kissed the raven-haired woman. "_I'll_ handle this. I'll be a hero!"

Before she could say another word, he took off. _A house near willow trees? Where the hell would that be?_

* * *

><p>After Ivan stabbed Tino and attacked Erikur while the woman stayed in the kitchen, he gave Toris, Eduard, and Raivis a choice: either come with him without a fight, or be knocked unconscious if they tried to run.<p>

Neither option seemed safe to the eldest of the three, but he (and his brothers) chose the first one. (They knew that Ivan was unstable, and didn't know what he would do once they were knocked out.)

Currently, they were blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs, in the back seats of a car. Raivis was softly crying, and Eduard tried to comfort him. Toris, however, paid no attention to them. Instead, he noticed that the knot that bound his hands was loose. He tried to undo it even more, desperately, but quietly.

Thankfully, he felt the rope slip off, freeing his hands. Making sure that Ivan wasn't looking at him, he quickly moved the blindfold up, just so he could semi-see his surroundings. He looked down, and almost gasped. On the floor of the car was a notebook.

Luckily, Ivan's cell phone started to ring, distracting the tall man. Toris quickly snatched the notebook and bit his thumb. He'd only have one chance.

"Privyet," said the Russian, his voice cheerful. "You escaped? Wonderful, da. Meet me at the house. Yes, the one with all the willow trees. Yes, you did well. You want von Bock? Fine; I couldn't care less about him. Do svidaniya, Natalia."

While this conversation was going on, Toris wrote a message in his own blood on a random page of the notebook. He quickly opened the window and threw it as hard as he could.

_Please let this work, _he prayed. _I really want someone to find us. I don't want to die, not yet._

He quickly rolled up the window, but not before Ivan noticed.

"Toris!" he yelled. "What the hell did you do?"

"I-I just needed some air."

"I'll deal with you when we get home. I wasn't going to harm you much, but you just blew it. Too bad."

The brunet shook. _At least he didn't notice that my hands were unbound. _He moved closer to Raivis and Eduard and hoped that the car ride would last as long as possible.

Time seemed to speed up, and soon Toris felt the car come to a stop. They had arrived. He quickly put his hands behind his back, making them look like they were tied up. Right after he did this, Ivan and the woman got out of the car.

Through the slit in his blindfold, he could see the large man roughly grab Eduard and Raivis. The smaller of the two whimpered, and the violet-eyed man slapped him across the face, shocking him into silence. Toris himself felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and knew that the woman was guiding him out of the car. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Toris suddenly recognized the voice. _She was the one who bandaged my back all those years ago! _He guessed that she didn't want to participate in his torture, but was forced to for some reason.

Once they were inside the house, the brunet heard a lock click into place. The blindfold was ripped off of his face, and he felt his hands being tied up again. The woman stood behind him, her hands tightly gripping his shoulders.

After blinking to get used to the light, Toris realized that they were in a large, white room. There was one window, but it was boarded up. He noticed that Ivan towered behind Raivis, his hand loosely wrapped around his neck He looked around, and saw that another woman was there, leaning against the wall.

"Natalia." Ivan nodded to her. "You know what to do."

She smirked. "Of course, brother dearest." Suddenly, her hand lashed out and grabbed Eduard by his shirt. Once he was right in front of her, she pulled a knife out of her jacket pocket and expertly sliced the ropes off.

Once his hands were free, Natalia grabbed one. "I want to see what it takes to make you scream, like you used to." She pat the blonde boy's shoulder. "Don't worry; this house is in the middle of the woods. Be as loud as you want. Nobody will hear you."

Toris could only watch as the woman slowly twisted his brother's wrist around until his hand was bent at an unnatural angle. The boy's face was twisted with pain, but he didn't let one sound escape his lips.

"That didn't hurt enough? Pity." The lavender-eyed woman shook her head. She picked up her knife (which she placed on the table next to her). Without any hesitation, she plunged it into Eduard's shoulder.

This caused him to shake and whimper, but he still refused to scream.

"You're boring," Natalia pouted. "Ivan, I thought you said he was the fun one!"

The Russian smiled, an almost-childlike gleam in his eyes. "I lied."

After slashing the knife diagonally down the bespectacled boy's chest, she sighed. "Ivan, I'm done with this one; he's no fun."

Ivan nodded, and the woman proceeded to pick up a pistol that was also on the table.

"NO!" Toris screamed, struggling to break free, to save his brother. The woman holding him back was stronger than she looked, and kept him from running away from her.

Natalia pointed the end of the gun directly at the now-sobbing boy's heart. "Bye-bye!"

With a surge of adrenaline-induced strength, the brunet broke free. He ran at the madwoman and threw his entire body at her.

She pulled the trigger, and Eduard screamed.

Toris felt like his heart stopped. He sank to the ground, watching as a rosette of blood appeared on the younger boy's…shoulder.

_His shoulder? She missed. _He closed his eyes in relief, tears dripping down his face. _Thank you. _When he opened them again, he realized that Eduard had fallen unconscious. _Probably from stress and the pain of his injuries. _

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a noise. He stood up and saw Ivan clapping his hands, a manic grin on his face. Raivis was being restrained by Natalia.

_If she hurts him, I'm going to _kill _her! _He knew it was unrealistic, but he didn't care.

"So little Toris thinks he's a hero? How sweet," smirked the Russian. "You saved your brother, but for a price." His smile got even larger as he pulled something out of a cabinet.

The brunet's heart sped up, and his eyes widened. _No! Not that again! _

Ivan held a bloodstained faucet pipe in his hands. "After Natalia killed Peter and Feliks, she didn't wash the blood off. Oh well!" He shrugged.

Without warning, he ran at Toris, who was in shock, knocking him to the ground.

"You thought I was dead?" he spat, bringing the weapon down on the boy's arm. "You thought you were free?"

Another hit, this one connecting with his stomach. Coughing violently, Toris forced himself to kneel before vomiting.

Unfortunately, that left his back vulnerable, and after a moment, he screamed when he felt something slash across it. He felt the warm stickiness of blood, and realized that a few of his scars reopened. He turned around to see what he was hit with; it didn't feel like the heavy metal of the pipe.

_Of course. _He openly sobbed now. In Ivan's hand was a very familiar whip.

"You abandoned me, little Toris. You and your brothers! You need to be punished!" The tall man's face was contorted with madness, his eyes wild.

Before he could turn away, Ivan swung the whip forward, and it connected with the right side of the brunet's face.

Pain like he'd never experienced before exploded from where he'd been struck. Screaming as loud as he could, he dropped to the floor, his hands covering his face.

The world spun, and when he tried to see where Raivis was, he found that he had no vision in his right eye.

He used what little strength he had left to crawl next to Eduard. He grabbed one of the blonde boy's outstretched hands, and finally gave in to the darkness that was surrounding him.

"I'm sorry, Raivis," he whispered, tears spilling from his eyes and falling into the cut on his face, making it sting. "I failed you."

Then, he fell limp.

* * *

><p>Raivis sobbed as he heard Toris scream in pain. Natalia had let go of him, but he couldn't move; he was frozen with fear. He sat with his back facing the wall, his knees curled up to his chest. <em>I wish I could stop this, but I'm just not strong enough! <em>

When the brunet's cries ceased, the smallest of the trio knew his brother was either unconscious or dead. _No! He can't be dead!_

Pushing the thought out of his head, he looked up and saw Ivan smiling at him.

"Looks like it's just you left, da." He stepped towards the smallest boy.

Raivis made himself rise to his feet and run to the left, away from his tormentor. Because his legs were shaking, they eventually gave out, sending him to the floor.

Suddenly, Ivan appeared right in front of him, kneeling. "Raivis, you tried to run away from me?" His face genuinely looked hurt. "You were always my favorite. Now that the other two are out of the way, we could leave. We could be a family."

Anger filled the small blonde's entire being. "No!" he spat, not a trace of a stutter in his voice. "I have a family, you bastard!" Before his brain processed what was going on, his hand lashed out, punching Ivan in the nose.

Now, the sad look on the Russian's face was replaced by rage, blood dripping from his now-broken nose.

All anger left Raivis, and his heart began to beat faster. _Oh no._

With a snarl, Ivan grabbed the pipe he dropped earlier and threw himself at the Latvian. "You piece of shit!" He brought his weapon down repeatedly on the boy's legs.

The blonde screamed and looked wildly around the room. Natalia just watched, a manic grin on her face, while the other woman looked horrified, tears streaming down her face. "Stop it!" he gasped. "Please!"

He tried to sit up, to get away, but the tall man kicked him back down, his foot painfully pressing on his chest. He heard a cracking noise, and knew that one of his ribs just broke. The Russian laughed and continued to strike the boy's now-bleeding legs.

After what seemed like an eternity, the hits stopped, and Ivan removed his foot from his chest. "Now you can't run away!" He smiled.

Without warning, he jumped onto Raivis' injured legs, putting all his weight on them.

The smallest boy screamed, biting his lip until it bled to try to lessen the pain. His vision was getting blurry, and he wanted to give in to unconsciousness. However, a voice in his head was telling him to stay awake. He listened to it, and somehow kept himself from passing out.

"STOP!" a voice suddenly cried.

Raivis turned his head, and saw the crying woman run up to him.

"Stop it, Ivan," she begged. "I can't take it anymore!"

She sat down next to the barely-conscious boy and gently pulled him onto her lap, trying not to aggravate his injuries. She stroked his hair, and her tears fell onto his face.

"Katyusha! You're not following the plan!" the violet-eyed man barked.

The woman—Katyusha—frowned. "I can't just stand and watch while you torture these boys! You adopted them; you're supposed to treat them like human beings, not punching bags! I thought, after I faked your death, you'd change."

She took a breath, wiping her eyes. "I spent so much money hiring that conman and forger, Giacomo Rossi, to fake your death certificate and pose as the doctor and coroner. While you were in your coma, _I _brought the boys back to the orphanage. You broke them, Ivan! I wanted to give them—and you—a new start! I guess I was wrong."

She wrung her hands. "I thought when you told me to meet you at Tino Väinämöinen's house, you wanted to talk to him. Then you _killed _him and injured an innocent boy!"

She picked up the bag she dropped and walked over to the unconscious forms of Eduard and Toris. "Then I discover that Natalia murdered Peter Kirkland and Feliks Łukasiewicz. A fourteen-year-old and a nineteen-year-old. Children."

She opened her bag and pulled out gauze bandages, antiseptic, and tweezers.

"What are you doing, Katyusha?" asked Ivan, his voice cold.

"Making sure they don't bleed to death."

Raivis watched as the woman removed the bullet from Eduard's shoulder, cleaned his wounds, and bandaged them. She did the same to Toris, being extra-gentle around the gash on his face.

"You're a monster," she spat at Ivan.

"DON'T INSULT IVAN, YOU BITCH!" Natalia screamed. She picked the gun up from the floor and fired it three times at the woman, hitting her once in the forehead and twice in the chest.

Katyusha fell to the floor, her eyes glazing over.

Raivis whimpered. He knew she was dead.

"Thank you, Natalia," said Ivan, smiling.

"She betrayed you, brother; she had to be taken care of."

The Russian then walked back towards the small blonde, who could no longer move. "Now where were we?"

He wrapped both his hands around the Latvian's neck and lifted him off the ground. "Da, I remember now!" He threw the boy against the wall.

Raivis landed on his broken legs, causing tears to fall from his eyes. He could no longer make any sounds other than soft whimpers without his throat hurting; he had pretty much lost his voice from screaming so much when Ivan broke his legs.

"Natalia!" the violet-eyed man yelled. "Restrain him!"

The woman licked her lips. She stalked over to the shaking boy and harshly pulled him into a sitting position, holding his arms behind his back.

Ivan stomped forward, the faucet pipe in his hands. "Raivis Galante, you are worthless," he spat. "You're good for nothing. No one loves you. …And I am done with you."

_That's not true, _he thought, his eyes narrowing in one last show of defiance. _Toris loves me, Eduard loves me…Peter loved me. _

As the pipe was brought to his head, the cool metal resting on his forehead, Raivis no longer felt any fear. His shaking ceased, and a smile appeared on his face. _I hope you're waiting for me, Peter. I've missed you so much._

He closed his eyes as Ivan brought the pipe back. He heard the 'whoosh' of the air as it swung forward, and let a tear escape from his eye.

Suddenly, he heard a loud bang, and he found his arms free. He opened his eyes to see Ivan fall to the ground, blood streaming from a gunshot wound on his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Vash was absolutely furious when Alfred F. Jones showed up at the crime scene. "What the hell are you doing here? Elizaveta took you off of this case."<p>

"I know," replied the blue-eyed man. "I just need some help. Someone threw this notebook out of a car. There's a message on one of the pages saying whoever it belonged to is in danger. See?"

He opened the notebook to a random page and handed it to the Swiss man.

All his anger at the younger man evaporated when he saw the message, as well as the initials at the end of it. _T.L., R.G., and E.v.B. Toris Lorinaitis, Raivis Galante, and Eduard von Bock. _

"I think I know where they are." The blonde and his friends used to walk by a 'haunted' house whenever they walked in the woods. It was surrounded by willow trees, like the house in the note was.

"What?" asked Alfred. "You do?"

Vash nodded. He walked over to Elizaveta. "I think I know where the boys are."

The supervisor of the day shift nodded. "Since there are other officers here, you may go. Take Alfred, Ludwig, and Morgens with you. Call for backup if the boys and Braginsky are there."

"Thank you." He and Alfred ran through the house, looking for the blonde Beilscmidt brother and the spiky-haired Dutchman. (It was his first day in the field; he was previously the toxicology specialist.)

Once he explained to them what was going on, he and Alfred got into one squad car while Ludwig and Morgens got into another. They turned on their sirens and sped down the street.

_I hope we're not too late. _

When they made it to the house, Ludwig and Vash drew and cocked their guns. (Alfred and Morgens didn't carry them.) The spiky-haired man noticed an opening in a boarded-up window, and looked through it.

"There are definitely people in there. A tall man with some sort of pipe in his hands is yelling at a small boy."

_Raivis! _Aloud, Vash ordered, "Ludwig, break this door down, right now!"

The blonde nodded and kicked the door in.

All four investigators rushed into the room.

The Swiss man saw Ivan swing the pipe down to bludgeon Raivis' skull. Without any hesitation, he aimed the gun at the tall man's shoulder and fired.

The woman who was restraining Raivis—Natalia Arlovskaya—dropped him and focused on Ivan.

"Brother!" she yelled.

"Ludwig," Vash commanded, "handcuff those two. Alfred and Morgens, focus on everyone else."

They nodded.

That left the blonde free to focus on Raivis. He knelt down next to him, absolutely sickened. The boy's legs were swollen, bruised and bleeding. The ends of his shorts were stained red, and bruises encircled his neck.

"Raivis?" he finally said, leaning over him.

The boy said nothing. He only wrapped his arms around the investigator and sobbed into his shirt.

"Who did this to you?"

"I-Ivan hurt me and Toris, attacked Erikur, and killed T-Tino. He also sent Natalia to kill P-Peter and Feliks," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Natalia t-tried to kill Eduard and murdered Feliks and…Peter. She also k-killed Katyusha, the woman lying on the g-ground."

After speaking, Raivis closed his eyes and fell limp.

Vash knew he was still alive; he could feel his heartbeat. He gently placed the boy on the ground and strode over to Natalia and Ivan.

"Ivan Braginsky, you are under arrest for the murder of Tino Väinämöinen, the attempted murder of Erikur Pettersen, Toris Lorinaitis, and Raivis Galante, and being an accessory to the murder of Peter Kirkland and Feliks Łukasiewicz."

He turned to Natalia, who snarled at him. "Natalia Arlovskaya, you are under arrest for the murder of Peter Kirkland, Feliks Łukasiewicz, and Yekaterina Braginskaya, and for the attempted murder of Eduard von Bock."

He stated the Miranda rights to them, and let Ludwig take them to his squad car. Once they were gone, he called for backup and an ambulance, and then turned to Morgens and Alfred.

"Are they okay?"

"Both the boys are unconscious, but their breathing seems normal. They do need medical attention, though," explained the Dutchman.

"So does Raivis," added Vash.

Alfred looked at the boy, then grimaced. "What the hell did Braginsky and Arlovskaya do to them?"

The Swiss man said nothing. Without thinking, he sat next to the small blonde and gently grabbed his hand.

He didn't let go until the paramedics arrived.

* * *

><p><strong>One week later…<strong>

Toris relaxed in his hospital bed, counting the flowers in one of the paintings across the small room. The doctors had told him that he was completely blind in his right eye, but he didn't care. He was just glad that Raivis was alive. Actually, he was glad that all_ three _of them were alive.

He heard from Officer Zwingli…_No, he said I could call him _Vash_, _Toris corrected himself. …that Natalia was locked up for life and that Ivan was in a mental hospital in California.

_It's finally over. _

He was snapped out of his thoughts when two people entered his room. Turning so that his good eye was facing them, he saw Vash and a…mini Vash. Who was a girl. A very _pretty _girl.

"Hello there! I'm Lili Zwingli, Vash's sister."

"H-hello. I'm Toris Lorinaitis. I'm sure Vash told you about me."

"Uh huh." She nodded. "You sounded pretty lonely, so I asked—"

"More like begged," Vash interrupted.

"You tell me all the time not to interrupt people, that it's rude!"

The blonde man cracked a tiny smile.

"Anyways, before I was _interrupted_, you sounded lonely, so I asked Vashy if I could visit you and your brothers."

"That's very kind of you." No one besides Eduard, Raivis, and Feliks had cared about him; he was amazed that someone who hadn't even met him before was acting so nice.

"I also got you something," said the Vash-lookalike. She pulled something wrapped in green tissue paper out of her bag.

"What? You've never even seen me before today, yet you're giving me a gift?" The brunet was even more confused. His stomach started to feel weird.

"Sure! After what you've been through, you deserve one. It doesn't matter that I've never met you before today," explained Lili. "Here." She handed him the gift. "You can open it now."

Toris nodded, and unwrapped the paper. Inside was a pair of brand-new green pajamas, with red and yellow trimming around the ends of the sleeves and the collar of the shirt.

"I bought them, but I spent a couple hours sewing the accents on, since the shirt looked plain without them. Vash said your favorite color was green, so that's why I bought you green pajamas."

"Ačiū labai!" Toris was so shocked, he forgot to speak English. "That means 'thank you very much' in Lithuanian."

"Gern geschehen," responded Lili. "That means 'you're welcome' in German." She smiled, and the brunet couldn't help returning it.

"I also got pajamas for your brothers too." She held up two more tissue-paper wrapped gifts. "Raivis' are red with white trimming, and Eduard's are blue with black and white trimming."

"I'm sure they'll love them," he said, smiling.

"I'm going to give these to them now, but don't worry; I'll come back and visit you again afterwards."

"Okay."

"Come on Vashy!" she exclaimed. "I need to know where their rooms are."

Vash nodded, rolling his eyes. "We'll be back soon, Toris."

He nodded, smiling once more, and waved to them as they left his room.

Toris was sure that Lili Zwingli was the most beautiful girl he ever met.

* * *

><p>And that's the end of Chapter Four. (Wasn't it adorable? XD.)<p>

I know Lili (Liechtenstein) seems very shy in the show, but I made her a year older in this story (I think; I don't know her age). It was referenced in the first chapter that she used to be very shy, but grew out of it as she got older. Hopefully she doesn't seem too OOC.

…Poor Berwald. First his adopted son dies, then his 'wife' dies. He really has no luck in this story.

I hope Alfred wasn't too OOC. His part was so much fun to write. (Vietnam totally wears the pants in their relationship, XDD.)

…The part in Ivan's house was the most violent couple of scenes I've ever written. (Poor Toris, Eduard, and Raivis; I want to hug them!)

Raivis broke Ivan's nose. (Hell yeah!) I wanted for him to seem strong at least once, XD.

…Rome is a conman in this story. (That makes me laugh for some reason.)

I know toxicology specialists don't go out in the field in real investigations (they stay in the lab), but I wanted to include Morgens (Netherlands) in at least one scene.

Lol, 'Vashy'. I really wanted to have Lili call him 'Switzy', but that nickname wouldn't make sense because he's technically not Switzerland in this story.

Virtual cookies (Kirkland brand) go to anyone who knows what the colors of the Baltic Trio's pajamas are referencing.

'Ačiū labai' is one of the only Lithuanian phrases I know, XD.

I had to look up how to say 'you're welcome' in German on Google Translate, so hopefully it's the correct translation. (I know that site isn't the most reliable.)

Translations:  
><strong>Privyet: <strong>Hello _(Russian)  
><em>**Do svidaniya: **Goodbye _(Russian)_

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (The epilogue is next.)


	5. Epilogue

Welcome to the last chapter of 'The Number Three'.

The story will end on a happy note. (Yay)

I'd like to thank everyone for reading this. I'd also like to thank everyone who reviewed.

Many people got the reference in the last chapter. Yes, the colors of the pajamas were the colors of the three Baltic countries' flags.

Juan Moreno: Cuba

Since this is the epilogue, it will be significantly shorter than the other chapters.

Hetalia doesn't belong to me. If it did, America and Sealand would team up and annoy England together.

* * *

><p>Epilogue<p>

During his interrogation, Ivan Braginsky said nothing, save for requesting to be in a holding cell as far away from Natalia Arlovskaya as possible.

During Natalia Arlovskaya's interrogation, she made a deal with the police. She would tell them everything she knew in exchange for letting Ivan plead insanity. Since the Russian man was obviously not right in the head, they agreed.

Natalia was sentenced to life in prison without parole, and Ivan was sent to a hospital for the criminally insane. Giacomo Rossi, the man who forged the Russian's death certificate and impersonated a doctor, was also sent to prison.

* * *

><p>Eduard von Bock was released from the hospital a week after he arrived. (This was more because the doctors wanted to make sure he was psychologically stable than the severity his physical injuries. The same went for Raivis and Toris.) He didn't want to live in his house while his brothers were still recovering, so he stayed with Berwald Oxenstierna. The two bonded over coffee and conversations about Tino. They would usually end in tears, but the two were happy. During this time, he also became good friends with Erikur Pettersen and Leon Li.<p>

Toris Lorinaitis left the hospital a week after Eduard. Unlike the bespectacled boy, he was a bit more traumatized. It took him awhile to be comfortable in his house. Because of this, and because he had to get used to living with sight in one eye, he decided to relinquish his custody of Raivis and Eduard. But under one condition: they would not go into foster care. He would only give them up if they were adopted by trustworthy people.

And they were. Eduard was adopted by Berwald and…

Much to the surprise of his friends and family, Vash Zwingli adopted Raivis Galante. Once the boy was released from the hospital, he started living with the blond man.

At first, it was very difficult for the small blond to adjust to his new living conditions. Many times, he would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming from a nightmare. He'd beg for his brothers, who were no longer there, to comfort him.

However, Vash was there. He held the boy until his shaking and crying ceased, stroking his hair and murmuring soothing words in German.

There were a few horrible months where Raivis refused to speak altogether. Vash knew that he wasn't ready to go back to school, so instead, he taught the boy himself. Even though he didn't speak, the Latvian was very smart, and excelled at his schoolwork.

After five months of silence, the blond finally spoke. The first sentence he said was 'thank you, Dad'.

Vash's heart swelled. He hugged the boy fiercely, never wanting to let go.

* * *

><p>A year after the 'Alley Murders' case was closed, Gilbert Beilschimdt and Elizaveta Héderváry got a divorce. It was a mutual decision; both of them felt more like good friends than lovers. (The two were never 'intimate', although they shared the same bed.)<p>

Six months after that, the Hungarian started going out with Roderich Edelstein. She discovered that he had exceptional musical talent, and she fell in love with his piano playing and his original compositions. After a few more dates, she was sure that she was in love with _him _as well.

* * *

><p>Two years after the murder of Peter Kirkland, Alfred F. Jones and Lieu Nguyễn got married. Everyone from the investigation team attended the wedding, and even Im Yong-Soo, who happened to be a distant relative of Yao's, was there. The Korean was ironically sitting next to Matthew Williams and Juan Moreno, the people who chased him from the bus station years ago.<p>

* * *

><p>After five years of shy glances, blushes, and stuttering, Toris finally had the courage to ask Lili Zwingli out on a date. The Vash-lookalike happily said yes. She had been in love with the Lithuanian ever since she had visited him in the hospital.<p>

When the brunet heard this, he was incredibly happy. He was confused as to why she didn't ask him out sooner if she liked him so much.

She responded by telling him that she didn't think it was proper for a woman to ask a man on a date. She knew he would ask her out eventually, and was perfectly fine with waiting.

After three more years of movies, dinners, and hand-holding, Toris and Lili decided that it was time to settle down. After much stress, headaches, and planning, Lili Zwingli officially became Lili Lorinaitis. The two got married on a beautiful November day. Everyone they knew was there, including Leon, Erikur, and Eduard, who just became crime scene investigators the week before.

Toris and Lili both shared their first kisses at the ceremony.

Raivis cried (he was still very emotional), and while Vash didn't, his eyes watered a bit.

* * *

><p>Two years had passed since the wedding, and Toris and Lili were visiting Vash.<p>

"Vashy, we have great news!" exclaimed the blonde, smiling.

"Did you win the lottery?"

"No, silly!"

"Did you win a house?"

"No!"

"Then what's your good news?"

"Vash, I'm pregnant! With triplets!"

The Swiss man smiled. He knew what she was going to say all along; he was just teasing her. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you," said Lili.

"It was sort of obvious for awhile now; I was just waiting for you to tell me," explained the green-eyed man. "Do you know what they're going to be?"

The blonde nodded, and she grabbed her husband's hand. "All three of them are boys."

"Wow," joked Vash, "they're going to be a lot to handle. Do you have names for them yet?"

Lili turned to Toris, nodding at him.

"Peter, Feliks, and Tino," he said, his eyes shining with happiness. "We're going to name them Peter, Feliks, and Tino."

End

* * *

><p>I know this was really short (and really cheesy, XDD), but I just wanted to briefly write about what happened after the mystery was solved.<p>

This was a very short chapter because I am planning on writing a sequel to this, and I didn't want to explain everything that happened in this epilogue in great detail.

I know LithuaniaxLiechtenstein is a REALLY random couple, but it fit with this story perfectly.

…Yes, Prussia and Hungary get a divorce, XD. (I'm actually an AusHun fan, so I had to include a scene with her and Roderich.)

The sequel I am planning will involve Erikur, Leon, and Eduard being amateur detectives (XD), and will include characters that weren't in this story very much (like Ludwig, Antonio, Morgens, and the Vargas brothers.)

The name of this story symbolizes all the sets of threes in it. (Ex: Raivis, Toris, and Eduard; Ivan, Katyusha, and Natalia, and Peter, Feliks, and Tino.)

Once again, thank you for reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed it. :)


End file.
